Jamie Lloyd Productions today announced that The Hothouse, Harold Pinter’s macabre tragicomedy will return to London’s West End in a new production this May. The Hothouse is next up in a thrilling season of work for Trafalgar Transformed, a joint initiative between director Jamie Lloyd (Donmar’s Passion, Broadway’s Cyrano de Bergerac, the National Theatre’s She Stoops to Conquer, Royal Court’s The Pride) and Howard Panter. It comes hot on the heels of the critically acclaimed Macbeth, starring James McAvoy, tickets for which have sold out. The Hothouse, with design by award-winning Soutra Gilmour, runs from 4 May to 3 August.

Simon Russell Beale (Privates on Parade, National Theatre’s Timon of Athens and Collaborators) is playing Roote and John Simm (Elling, Sheffield Theatres’ Hamlet and Betrayal) as Gibbs. Further casting will be announced shortly. Jamie Lloyd said:

“It is a dream come true to be working with Simon Russell Beale and John Simm on this funny, peculiar and frightening play as a part of Trafalgar Transformed. The Hothouse is the third Pinter project I have worked on and I am thrilled to be introducing Harold’s work to a young, diverse audience via our £15 Mondays ticket scheme.”

It’s Christmas Day in a nameless state-run mental institution where the inmates are subjected to a tirade of mindless cruelty. A maniacal and self-obsessed leader breeds a contagion of hierarchical savagery amongst his staff, who thrive on a noxious diet of delusion and deceit. The day got off to a lousy start! A death and a birth. Absolutely bloody scandalous! Is it too much to ask – to keep the place clean?

Under a veil of devilish wit and subversive humour, Pinter’s biting political commentary on the perils of unchecked power is as vital and pertinent today as when it was written in the 50’s.

Simon Russell Beale was recently on stage in Privates on Parade at the Noel Coward Theatre. Other stage credits includeThe Seagull and The Tempest for the RSC, for the National Theatre; Hamlet (for which he won the Evening Standard Best Actor Award), Humble Boy (also in the West End), Jumpers (also in the West End and on Broadway), Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, London Assurance, Collaborators and Timon of Athens. Simon’s stage credits for the Donmar Warehouse include Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night (for which he won the 2002 Olivier and Evening Standard Awards). Further theatre credits include Spamalot at the Palace Theatre/Broadway, The Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard at the Old Vic and Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre. His film credits include The Deep Blue Sea and My Week with Marilyn. On television, Simon’s credits include Henry IV Parts I & II, A Dance to the Music of Time (for which he won the BAFTA for Best Television Actor) and two series of Spooks and Sacred Music. Simon is an Associate Artist of the RSC and National Theatre.

John Simm’s stage credits include Speaking In Tongues at the Duke of York’s Theatre, Elling at the Bush Theatre and Trafalgar Studios (for which he was nominated for the Olivier and Theatregoer’s Choice Award for Best Actor 2008), Danny Rule at the Royal Court, Hamlet and Betrayal for Sheffield Theatres and Goldhawk Road at the Bush Theatre. John’s film credits include Everyday, Tuesday, Brothers of the Head, 24 Hour Party People, Wonderland, Human Traffic, Boston Kickoutand Understanding Jane. On television, John’s credits include The Village, Mad Dogs, Exile (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor 2012), Doctor Who, The Devil’s Whore, Life on Mars (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor 2007), Blue/Orange, Sex Traffic, State of Play, Crime and Punishment, The Lakes and Cracker.

As part of the Trafalgar Transformed season all tickets will be £15 on Mondays. Half of these will be made available through a special outreach scheme led by the Ambassador Theatre Group Creative Learning Department, targeted towards schools and first-time theatregoers. The other half will be released monthly to the public on the first day of each month for 24 hours, starting on 1 May 2013*, and will be available online or at Trafalgar Studios box office. Additionally, day seats will be available at £10 for all performances, Tuesday through Saturday (* Monday 6 May is excluded)

Harold Pinter wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming, and Betrayal, twenty-one screenplays including The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Sleuth, and directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce’s Exiles, David Mamet’s Oleanna, seven plays by Simon Gray and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room, at The Almeida Theatre in the spring of 2000. In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D’Honneur, the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D’Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. He received honorary degrees from eighteen universities.

Listings:

Performances: Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm

Thursday & Saturday at 2.30pm

Press Night Thursday 9 May at 7.00pm

Ticket prices: £10 – £54.50

As part of the Trafalgar Transformed season all tickets will be £15 on Mondays. Half of these will be made available through a special outreach scheme led by the Ambassador Theatre Group Creative Learning Department, targeted towards schools and first-time theatregoers. The other half will be released monthly to the public on the first day of each month for 24 hours, starting on 1 May 2013*, and will be available online or at Trafalgar Studios box office. (* Monday 6 May is excluded)

Daily Day seats will be available for £10. These are limited to one ticket per person and tickets can only be collected two hours before the performance time.

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Dan loves writing, film, music and photography. Originally from Devon, he did London for 4 years and now resides in Exeter. He also has a mild obsession with squirrels and cake. The latter being more of a hobby.
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